Change Is Good
by Sainji
Summary: In which Raven meets an old friend, and they discuss the past.


A/N: Takes place after the Teen Titans animated series, 5 years later.

In which Raven meets an old friend, and they discuss the past.

Disclaimer: I do not own Vans, Machinae Supremacy, Starbucks, Teen Titans, Raven, Tara, or any other copy righted materiel mentioned in the story below._Although I wish I did…_

_Change is Good_

The dark haired woman grunted seemingly agitatedly as the cell phone in her pocket vibrated.

A few years back she had bought the pesky device with a strange need to fill the absence of her communicator. Now she wondered why she had bothered. After the Titans disbanded she unwillingly threw her cloak in the pitch dark of her closet, in a spot in the back where it could never be found again, such as she had done with her memories. Admittedly, it still felt odd to be clad in civilian clothing, awkward to be living a normal college-student life, and even stranger to be surrounded by the peaceful and normal rhythm of city life in Jump City.

She held the annoying device in her hand, starring at the unknown caller's number. Something in the back of her head told her to answer, begged and hoped that the Titans were returning. But the other, less hopeful voice told her to ignore it, to assume that it was just another telemarketer.

Raven took a moment to glance at her reflection in the shop window that she had stopped near. The Raven staring back was taller, thinner, and older, with dark purplish hair that fell to her mid-back, her amethyst eyes were seemingly dimmer then usual, and her mouth was drawn into a thin line, all together emotionless. Yet she looked tired, lonely, and she missed the days of her younger life. Heck, she couldn't help but admit that she missed BB's crappy jokes, even Kori's seemingly over energetic company.

Her eyes felt moist, they began to sting, and she pulled the hood of her brown zipper hoodie up over her eyes, an old habit that she could never loose. The device in her hand made a low beeping noise-indicating that she had recived a text message.

"Meet me on 5th—I'll be standing in front of the door to the coffee shop.

---- A friend."

Raven raised an eyebrow- the message had been signed as "A friend". She found that oddly funny, considering how her friends had all left her. Nonetheless she adjusted the strap of her messenger bag, checking to make sure her laptop and books were still within. She supposed it wouldn't hurt to see who this "friend" was. And she smiled to herself at the thought of Kori trying to work a cell phone.

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The hooded girl's shoes crunched noisily on the snow, and her face was numb from the stinging wind, her jeans chafed uncomfortably against her thighs. She made a mental note to go out and buy a new pair later on that day.

She paused reluctantly in front of "Tom's Coffee". The girl had never been in there, it was just way too expensive in her opinion. She usually settled for shops like the cheap Starbucks knock off's. A dark haired, blue eyed woman who was slightly taller than her waved towards Raven. She was wearing faded blue jeans just like Ravens, with a black band jacket that had "Machinae Supremacy" written across the front, and the black and white striped slip on Van's that Raven had so often seen the teen skaters wearing. She smiled sheepishly, "I'm guessing you're Raven? Just a blind guess, considering how your hood-"

"Tara?" Raven blinked a few times, bluntly confused, "what happened to your hair? How did you get my number?"

"It….took a while, but I came into contact with Cy, your's was the only number he could find."

"So, Viktor's alright." Raven put her hands in her jackets' pockets, mostly talking to herself.

"Its freezing lets go inside, my treat."

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The two sat inside the coffee shop, both having agreed that it was too cold to sit outside. Raven took a sip of her green tea and stared out of the window, watching children pelt expensive looking cars with snow balls. She wondered when an adult would catch them, but she did find it slightly odd that the streets were fairly empty.

"So... Tell me, how're the others?"

"So you _do_ remember the Titans." Raven remembered the day a few years ago when Beast Boy had returned to the tower after having seen Tara again, he seemed both angry and sad, claiming that Tara didn't remember how to use her powers, and how she couldn't remember anything that happened before she had transformed into her own stone prison.

"I…well, yes but…" The blue eyed girl fidgeted a bit, playing with the cardboard cup in her hand, seemingly searching for the right words in her head. After several seconds she finally said, "I remember…snippets, meeting you guys, all of your names…_Slade_." Raven flinched at the way Tara had spat out the last name, the girl seemed to collect herself again and then added, "but I mostly remember talking…talking to you, sharing my feelings. I remember feeling…awful, I think…I think it was something I told you, or something I did, but I knew you hated me, and I hated myself for it."

"I think you're thinking of BB." Raven bit her lip; she had eventually grown to forgive Tara, though she still felt slightly angry whenever she thought about how the blonde had betrayed the Titans. Sure they had talked, they had been friends, but Beast Boy was the one who deserved to be sitting here, talking to Tara. After all these years…he _still_ loved her. He still _believed_ in her.

"I…I didn't like BB, I mean…well okay, at the time I thought he was cute, funny. But…" Once again Raven found that the girl was searching for the right words to use, "I guess…when I came back, I mean…well lemme start off like this." She took a deep breath, as if she was going tell a story in one long sentence. "I found myself in a cave, wearing this strange torn up metal suit. At the time, the only thing I could really remember was a set of faces staring back at me as they backed off into the distance. I could only remember unbearable heat, and it felt like my body was being torn to pieces.

"My head hurt like hell, I was totally lost. I didn't know where I was, or how I got there. I just knew that it was hot, and the armor I was wearing was almost squeezing the air out of me. To be honest, I don't remember how I managed to _get_ that thing off. Well after that, I managed to find my way out of that cave." She took a drink of her coffee. "Now that I think about it, I couldn't remember the way to this city either, it was almost as if my legs had a mind of their own."

"You were lost and confused, and yet your powers didn't go out of control? How did you manage that?"

"When I told Beast Boy I couldn't use my powers anymore...well, that was partially true. Back then I didn't even have the strength to move the smallest pebble, over the years my powers slowly came back. I guess I could call it a miracle, but even now I have no great use for them."

"You took the armor off…so were you…you know, wandering around…_naked_?"

Tara chuckled slightly, "well, you'd be amazed but I found a small pile of clothes next to the spot were I regained consciousness. I guess that was BB's doing?"

Raven smiled slightly, that made sense. She always did wonder why Beast Boy would sometimes sneak out of the tower with a small bundle. Back then, she had just thought he was being his own crazy self, that he was going run away. But then a thought clicked in Ravens head, Tara had no family or relatives in Jump City. When BB had come back that one day he said Tara was at school, which had to have meant _somebody_ was taking care of her. But before she could ask, Tara cocked her head to the side curiously and asked if Raven had heard her.

"What?"

"I'm surprised; it's not like you to zone out. I was just asking why you still had that hood of yours over your head."

"O-oh, yeah I forgot about that." The pale woman felt slightly embarrassed as she pulled that hood back.

"You grew your hair out?"

"I felt I needed a change."

"Change is good."

Raven raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"You never answered me, how're the others?"

"You never finished your story."

"What? Well really all I was going to say next was that I didn't deserve someone like BB. He deserves someone better, someone who will appreciate him and will love him fully." She smiled bitterly.

For once Raven understood Tara's feelings. She had to admit, that at one point she herself had liked Beast Boy, after the Malchoir incident. But she just couldn't be with someone like Beast Boy, who had the mental capability of a squirrel on crack.

The sorceress leaned back in her chair and stared up at the ceiling of the coffee shop, occupying her eyes and brain by counting the ceiling tiles. Eventually she finally looked back at Tara.

"The others…what can I say? We broke up since the Titans were no longer needed in Jump City. I don't know where BB or Viktor live, or what they're doing now. Robin….or I guess I should call him "Nightwing", returned to Gotham. I guess he couldn't stand a life without crime fighting. And Kori…" She paused, did the elementalist know that Koriand'r was from another planet? She honestly couldn't remember if she had told the other girl about Azeroth. She mentally shrugged it off when she had realized that Tara was waiting for her to carry one, "Kori returned to her home too."

"Bird boy must've been lonely."

"Maybe."

"I hear he has a lot of girls standing in line for marriage."

"Its true, but he still loves Kori."

"Kinda like Penelope and the suitors if you ask me."

"I don't think I can imagine Kori slaying all of the women though." But then Raven's smile grew, "well I guess Kitty would be an exception."

Tara chuckled lightly, and for a while the two of them sat there, discussing what they were doing with their lives and what they were planning on doing for the future.

A few hours had passed and before they knew it, it was already time for Raven to take off for her afternoon classes.

The two women stood outside of the Café, Raven with her hands jammed into her jeans' pockets and Tara with her hands clasped to the back of her head.

"I guess this is it, huh?" The elementalist was smiling, but loneliness shown noticeably in her blue eyes.

"You have my number; call me whenever you feel you need to talk."

"I guess your right." They were silent for a while, and after a few seconds Raven lowered her gaze to the snow, now littered with footprints.

But then she smiled, "Hey, you never told me why you dyed your hair."

"'I felt I needed a change.' " Tara smirked and tilted her head.

Raven nodded approvingly, "'Change is good'"

And with that, both girls turned and went into their opposite directions, neither knowing if the were ever going to meet again. One knowing that she would never feel lonely again, because the other was just a phone call away.

END

A/N: I…I'm not very happy with this fic, but I'm sure you understand….writers block started to attack me towards the middle of the story, and IMO it seems kind of rushed and confusing. I'd also like to add that I couldn't remember if it was spelt 'Viktor' or 'Victor', and my interwebs was being gay at that time. Anyways, leave a review. I'll love you forever.

Also, Penelope and the Suitors is just a blunt reference to one of the acts in "the Odyssey".


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